Eames says challenge of Drumcree is immense

The Church of Ireland Primate, Dr Robin Eames, has said that the challenge which Drumcree poses for the church is "immense". Public perception of the disruption following the Drumcree service this year had "done great harm to the name of the Church of Ireland".

Delivering an address in the Millennium Lecture series at St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, yesterday, he said: "Words spoken following the service at Drumcree this year and the calls for widespread protest across the community were a complete rejection of the dignity or solemnity of the worship of almighty God."

The church "cannot allow [its] responsibility through association [with events at Drumcree] to continue", he said. Public perception of the disruption following the service had "done great harm to the name of the Church of Ireland".

Repeatedly he had to dissociate the church at large from those events which were "an utter disgrace", he said.

The situation was "more complex and sensitive" than many observers either realised or attempted to understand, but "none of the parties can shift responsibility on to anyone else".

Dr Eames said that where the Troubles were concerned, time and again the churches had failed to bring into homes, on to the streets or into the debates of decision-makers the gospel they proclaimed.

Too often the churches "had sought comfort in the bland pronouncement, the endless condemnation, the hope that faithfulness in the sanctuary will compensate for unfaithfulness in the marketplace and that traditional attitudes of respect will carry credence for current shortcomings.

"Such words directed against the institution in which we serve may sound harsh. But until we put our own house in order we have a flawed integrity for pronouncing on the ills of Irish society."

Far gone were the days of unquestioned authority where the Irish church was concerned, he said. "Rightly so: society scrutinises, criticises and analyses church stances in ways our forefathers would have found impossible to imagine.

"Far from hiding away from public scrutiny, the church should take to heart what society is saying about it. But society needs to be aware that it can fall into the trap of seeing its churches as some sort of mirror-image of its own failings and shortcomings," he said.

The peace process had provoked "serious and deep questions for the Irish churches", he said. Reconciliation was now "an urgent imperative", but there were "many, many people who cannot find forgiveness, who see reconciliation as some sort of weakness and who believe that things will never change".

Denominationalism was being confronted by searching questions about tribalism, over-identification with one's "own side" and attitudes to what were the genuine concerns of others, he said. The church must not be identified with or be perceived to be the means of worshipping a sectional God.

It was "nothing short of blasphemy" to proclaim "a unionist, nationalist, a Protestant or a Roman Catholic God . . . Sadly, there are those who do so," he said. It was "the root seed of religious tribalism. The fact that it is a reality for some challenges Christianity to the core. It is a denial of the universality of the Christ of Calvary," he said.

Where matters of justice were concerned, the churches "must get away from the concept that all we concern ourselves with is what appears to be an injustice to "our own people". It would demand courage, and it would involve the cry of "betrayal" from some, but the Cross of Calvary demanded it, he said.

Hurt and injustice inflicted on any section of the community should be the concern of each church. "Until we reach a stage where such levels of concern or appreciation of justice are a feature of everyday life, we will continue to tribalise and sectarianise," he said.

Looking at the increasing secularisation of Irish society, Dr Eames said he saw in this "a unique opportunity" for the church. "It is a canvas on which we are asked to repaint the vision of Christ, the words of Christ and above all else provides the prophetic voice of such values as sacrifice, good neighbourliness, dedication and service," he said.

Above all, it was a situation which demanded a voice which was seen to be prophetic "and is worked out in action, life and personal example", he said.